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Atwater, CA
A 20-year-old female asked:

I was prescribed tylenol with a low dose of codeine for my strep throat. is it safe to take while nursing a 6 month old?

2 doctor answers5 doctors weighed in
Dr. James Ferguson
Pediatrics 48 years experience
Probably fine: You should monitor for infant sedation or shallow breathing but these are rare unless you are usng higher doses.At regular doses this is usually well tolerated bu the infant and other than the possible sedation does no harm.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Dr. James Ferguson
Pediatrics 48 years experience
Provided original answer
The relative infant dose is 2.4-3.7%, the common codeine dose of 5-10 mg every 4-6 hr is well tolerated during BF while higher would be concerning.See: Medications & Mothers Milk,Hale,T 15ed,2012,pp34.
Nov 2, 2016
Dr. Maya Vazirani
Neonatology 55 years experience
Codiene: in low doses for you can be a higher dose for the baby who has a higher total body water and larger volume of distribution smaller muscle mass prolongs clinical termination of action so baby will sleep more so try to avoid codien
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Last updated Nov 3, 2016

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